A woman has been given the gift of life thanks to her 'selfless' best friend who donated her kidney.
Helen Ashley has lived with kidney failure since she was a little girl and was in need of a life-saving transplant.
Rather than wait for an organ to become available via a deceased donor, Helen was helped by her best friend Lauren Franklin.
Helen's pal of 13 years wasn't the perfect match but as a young, living donor, doctors were able make the transplant work.
Helen, 29, and Lauren, 25, underwent the procedure in the summer at the Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI).
The transplant was a success and the friends have both recovered well.
Helen described the procedure as 'relatively simple', and that Lauren was walking around the Trafford Centre just days after the transplant.
Helen, from Sandbach, spoke of her gratitude in a moving Facebook post.
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She wrote: “My absolutely beautiful and most selfless best friend gave me the gift of life and donated one of her kidneys.
“She wasn’t a perfect match but good enough and considering she had come forward as a living donor, quality was on our side so we went ahead.
"A relatively simple operation for her, largely done through key hole followed by three-and-half days in hospital; she was walking the very next day after surgery and wandering around the Trafford Centre the day after her return home.
"This woman truly is superwoman!
“Lauren now has a few weeks off work but other than that, it impacts her in no way, she has just got married, is planning on continuing to carve out her already very successful career she’s built at the age of 25 and is planning on growing her family in the near future.
"We only need one kidney to live a normal life so there are no real side effects for the donor.”
The donation is not a life-long cure for Helen's illness, but it will dramatically improve the quality of her life.
She added: "With Lauren’s gift I can go on to live life with an abundance of energy I had previously, be able to have a family which wouldn’t have been possible without a new kidney, and progress in my career without the hang ups of weekly hospital visits and the ball and chain that is dialysis.
"I’m spreading this story as a way to show my gratitude to my friend, hopefully cheer up others and show them that there are some diamonds left out in the world.
"Most importantly, I want to spread some knowledge about renal disease and the benefits of a living donation."
Some 50-years-ago, a kidney patient needed to be under 40 years of age, a non-smoker and physically fit before being considered for a transplant, while the donor had to be both a blood and tissue match.
Now, thanks to improved techniques and research, patients can undergo so-called 'mis-matched' transplants.
Jon Simpson, medical director at MRI, part of the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Without a transplant, kidney patients have to rely on dialysis treatment to keep them alive, which isn’t a long-term fix.
"Helen and Lauren’s story really highlights the impact this life-saving surgery can have on a transplant recipient, and shines a light on the generosity of the donor.
“There are currently more than 4600 patients nationwide on the waiting list for a kidney transplant and 443 patients actively on the MRI transplant waiting list.
"It’s really important that we talk to our families about organ donation, and understand and educate each other on how we can help save lives.”
